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Last Word with Lang Whitaker - The Hawks are Covered - 040110

Submitted by jnewberry on Thu, 2010-04-01 11:21

Lang Whitaker is many things - executive editor of Slam Magazine, a contributor for NBA TV, a book author, and most importantly, a die-hard Hawks fan. After starting 2-for-2 in pushing the Hawks into the postseason, he's back for his third season in 2009-10 to share his thoughts on the team exclusively for Hawks.com. Check back every Thursday throughout the season to read his latest musings, and read him every day at www.SLAMonline.com

The Hawks Are Covered by Lang Whitaker

I have now been working at SLAM magazine for nine years. The first issue of SLAM that I worked on featured Tracy McGrady on the cover. If that doesn’t make you realize it was a long time ago, consider that it was McGrady on the cover in his first photo shoot wearing an Orlando Magic uniform. Since then I’ve performed various jobs here and there, written almost two dozen cover stories, about 100 features and produced more words for SLAMonline than I can possibly even begin to count. Despite having done pretty much all there is to do with SLAM, there always seems to be something that hasn’t been done.

And so today, hell freezes over. This is not an April Fools Day joke. The Atlanta Hawks are on the cover of SLAM magazine.

A few months ago, when the Atlanta Hawks were off to their best start in over a decade, there was a 48 hour period when I got calls from three different people pitching the Hawks as a possible SLAM cover. I told all three of those people the same things:

Yes the Hawks are playing well, but let’s see if they can keep this up.

Believe me, you don’t have to pitch me to put the Hawks on a SLAM cover.You’ve got the biggest possible Hawks advocate already here at SLAM, working from the inside. If anyone here needs to be reminded that the Hawks could be a viable cover, it’s not me.

But I can understand why people may not trust me, may not believe me when I say that we here at SLAM do realize that the Hawks exist. This is because in the entire 16 year history of SLAM magazine, we have never, ever, never ever ever, not even once, had an Atlanta Hawk on the cover.

It hasn’t been for a lack of trying, at least on my part. Every story meeting, I’m the one saying, “Well, we could do something on the Hawks...” Problem is the Hawks haven’t been very good. Since moving to Atlanta from St. Louis in 1968, the Atlanta Hawks have not won an NBA championship. In fact, since moving to the Eastern Conference in 1970, the Hawks haven't even made it to the Conference Finals. Between 1977 and 1999, the Hawks qualified for the Playoffs 18 times, and lost in either the first or second round all 18 times they made the Playoffs. And between 2000 and 2007, the Hawks didn't even make the Playoffs.

But now the Hawks are balling. They may not be at that level with Cleveland or L.A., but the Hawks are currently one win away from their first 50 win season in over a decade. And as we were brainstorming who should be on the cover of this issue set to drop when the Playoffs start, our publisher actually came up with the idea for us to feature younger teams that could make some noise.

Picking Oklahoma City from the West was a no-brainer.

As for the Hawks...well, you get one guess who got to write their first-ever SLAM cover story. Actually, the way it worked out, because of our timing and the Hawks’, we shot this cover in New York City. The Hawks flew into NYC on a Sunday afternoon, the day of the Oscars. I was waiting for them at their hotel near Lincoln Center, and they all trudged off the bus and went upstairs to their rooms. A few minutes later Hawks PR director Arthur Triche came back down, and then Al Horford, then Josh Smith, then Joe Johnson. The original plan was that we’d take cabs down to the photo studio that photog Atiba Jefferson had rented on the Lower East Side, but the Hawks’ charter bus waited for us to give us a ride, so the five of us ended up taking a huge bus all by ourselves down to the studio.

We got into the studio, Atiba started snapping, and AT and I played caterers by grabbing a couple of pizzas and sodas from a nearby pizzeria and bringing them back for everyone to chow on.Since turning pro, Joe, Josh and Al all said they’ve never been on a magazine cover, so they were up for the shoot, and we all just kinda hung out for a few hours down there. I’ve spent a lot of time with all three of those guys over the years -- including this year -- but this was a chance to see them in a totally different setting, just chatting, telling stories, spending a lot of time laughing uproariously. I knew all these guys got along just fine, but it wasn’t until that night at the photo studio that I was convinced that these guys all honestly like each other.

Even though I love the Hawks, I know most NBA fans have at best politely endured them over the years. Meanwhile, I’ve voraciously inhaled everything there is to know about the franchise, so I wrote what’s basically an educational piece, with 21 (word to Dominique) things you need to know about the Hawks to truly understand this team should you want to board the bandwagon. From Woody’s eyebrows to Iso-Joe to Lon Kruger’s season ticket scheme to the 1988 Eastern Conference Semifinals, I summed up the history and the present of the Hawks. The only three people I really quote in the story are the three people who’ve been around the organization the longest: Dominique, Arthur, and Hawks radio voice Steve Holman, who’s in his 25th season with the team. Like me, they’ve seen it all, been through the bad times, and it’s because of those bad times that this current team is so special.

I don’t know how the Playoffs are going to play out, but I do know the Hawks, for the first time in forever, stand a fighting chance against pretty much anyone. And for a Hawks fan like myself, that’s all I can ask for.

Meanwhile, I'm still trying to convince myself this isn't an April Fools Day joke.

ATL, shawty...

MAILING IT IN...
This week we hear from reader Clayton, who writes...It’s never to early to start thinking ahead of this year’s draft. The Hawks are really missing a big man. Horford is a beast but he’s just not big enough when it comes to the elite teams. What do you think are the chances of a big man falling to Atlanta in the 1st round, and if someone does, what are the chances Atlanta will pick him up? The only other thing we could do to get a big man is via free agency, and the only person worth getting is Amare. What do you think of all these things? Thank you for your time...

Thanks, Clayton. I hear what you’re saying, but finding a dominant big man in the NBA is probably the toughest task for any team executive. Maybe someone falls in the Draft, but the better the Hawks play, the lower they pick. And if they Hawks are able to re-sign Joe, they’re not going to have the money to sign a max guy like Amare is going to be.

To be honest, I’m not convinced that Al Horford can’t be a long-term answer at center. Al’s not the size of Dwight Howard, but who is? The Lakers use Gasol in the post at crunch time, and Al plays well against him. And look at a team like the Spurs, who won multiple titles without a dominating center.

Winning titles without a bruising big man can absolutely be done. And what if Al Horford is the guy to do it?

Lang Whitaker is the executive editor of SLAM magazine and writes throughout the week at SLAMonline.com. Follow him on twitter at @langwhitaker. Also, catch Lang every Tuesday night at 6:00 p.m. on NBA TV's "The Beat." He can be reached at lang@harris-pub.com.